


4 A.M.

by shadowcat720



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:55:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28359687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowcat720/pseuds/shadowcat720
Summary: Teagan should have known better than to answer the door at 4 in the morning.
Relationships: Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Kudos: 1





	4 A.M.

A knock on your door at four in the morning never bode well. He should have known better than to answer it. He should have stayed in his bed and pretended he wasn't awake.

It might have been important, though, an emergency that required Teagan's attention, so he got up, dressed quickly in shorts and a shirt and went to answer the door. He turned lights on in the hall and kitchen as he passed, yawning.

He was still buttoning up his shirt when he opened the door, blinking in surprise at the person on his doorstep.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" he said, voice raspy from sleep.

The man smiled, a bright smile that might have caused Teagan to relax if it had been anyone else's smile.

"Now, is that any way to greet a friend who came to say good morning?" The man crossed his arms and tapped his foot, for all the world a friend who'd just been snapped at for trying to do something nice.

"You didn't wake me up at four o'clock to say 'good morning, Caius'," Teagan said. " _Good night_."

He shut the door, hoping that would be the end of it.

Of course it wasn't. The man knocked on the closed door, loud and insistent.

Teagan stood in the hall and considered the possibility of ignoring him.

Caius knew he was home and awake. He would likely not quit bothering him until he got whatever he wanted.

Teagan also had to admit that his chances of getting any sleep now were in the minus numbers. It just wasn't going to happen. As unwelcome as Caius was, he might give Teagan something to focus on besides his nightmares.

Reluctantly, he opened the door. Caius smiled at him again and damn, it was frightening how such a dangerous man could look so sweet and innocent.

"What do you want?"

"Aren't you going to invite me in? It's not polite to leave your guest standing out in the cold."

"You're not a guest," Teagan shot back. "You're an unwelcome visitor." He then invalidated his statement by stepping aside to let Caius in.

Caius gave him a triumphant smirk as he glided past, shrugging off his heavy black coat and tossing it carelessly over a coatrack.

"How in the world do you not freeze in this house? It's even colder than outside in here," Caius complained as he stepped into the sitting room. He looked back toward Teagan and the hall, perhaps regretting taking off his coat.

"You get used to it. Now, _what do you want?_ " He emphasised each word of his last sentence. It was too early in the morning for games.

"I find myself curious." Caius made himself at home, folding his long frame into the comfortable armchair by the window. His long dark brown hair had been tied in a ponytail, but much of it had come loose and he pulled the rest of it free now, brushing it out with his fingers and stowing his hair tie away in his shirt pocket.

Come to think of it, were those dark circles under his eyes? Was the set of his shoulders a little too tense?

Just what had Caius been doing tonight?

"Curious about what?" Teagan asked, feeling vaguely nauseous. He caught his fingers playing with the golden bracelet on his right wrist and stopped, folding his arms instead.

He had a feeling he knew what trail Caius was on and he didn't like it one bit.

Caius's blue eyes followed Teagan's every movement. "You're never there," he said.

The odd statement caused Teagan's heart to flutter in his chest like a frightened bird.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said. He didn't think his voice wavered at all, but Caius's eyes narrowed, sharp and focussed. A hawk about to dive.

"The king trusts you with his life, despite the fact that no one can point to anything you've done to earn that kind of trust from a man known to be paranoid. You were with the army when they fought off the invasion. No one saw you during any of the battles, yet the General insisted you were right there and fought well."

"I've known Auric for years, of course he trusts me. I did fight in those battles. The General would never cover for a coward."

"Ah, but I think the important question is _how_ did you fight? How could it be that no one at all saw you? Could it be that everyone did see you and just didn't know it was you?"

Teagan shivered and not from cold.

He knew. The gods-damned bastard wasn't just grasping at straws. He _knew_.

"Get out," Teagan said, voice shakier than he would have liked.

He had thought about what he might do if someone ever put the pieces together, but he hadn't expected to be dealing with it at four o'clock in the morning, or with this particular person.

"You've gone white as a ghost and you look as though you're about to collapse," Caius said as he rose from the chair, voice concerned now. Teagan highly doubted it was sincere. "I can't possibly leave you in this state."

 _It's your fault!_ Teagan wanted to snap. He gritted his teeth and tried to take deep, even breaths.

He couldn't seem to move away as Caius strode to stand in front of him and put a cold hand to his forehead. The man smelled like rain and fresh grass.

"Feels like you've got a fever," Caius said.

Of course he did. He always ran a little hotter than everyone else and it was particularly noticeable in this cold weather.

"Get out." He slapped Caius's hand away, cursing himself the moment he did it, because there was no way the foreign assassin would let that slide.

Caius caught his hand by the wrist and squeezed, his grip just shy of painful. His eyes had turned as deep and cold as the void of the night sky.

"I wondered what it was the king saw when he looked at you. It bothered me terribly that I was missing something. At first, I thought you might be his lover, but you aren't, nor do I think you ever have been."

The idea of Teagan and the young king being lovers was hilarious. Auric might trust Teagan with his life, but he kept a sensible, wary distance.

" _You burn too brightly_ ," the king told him one day after Teagan had accidentally slashed his arm during a sparring session. " _You put all your fire into everything that you do and I pity whoever you fall in love with, because you will burn them_."

"Then I thought that maybe you might have saved Auric's life once," Caius continued. "Now I know you did. No one had any way to know it was you, though, just you and the king. You must have told the General at some point. How many people know what you can do?"

Three. Four now, counting Caius.

Teagan decided that he was done playing nice with the king's new advisor and assassin.

"If you've figured it out, then you should know better than to try anything with me," he said. He raised the hand Caius wasn't holding, letting golden flames dance over his fingers.

Caius, who never liked to back down but was wise enough to heed a clear threat, let his wrist go and shook his head.

"I might be a foreigner and a former enemy," he said, "but I am now and always will be Auric's man. I know you don't approve of what I do. I lie, betray and kill. I won't apologise for it. I will do whatever I must to keep this kingdom safe. You can hate me all you want for what I used to be and what I still am, but always remember one thing."

Caius reached up toward the hand wreathed in golden flames and, alarmed, Teagan doused them with a quick thought before they could touch the man's skin.

He hated using his magic to hurt people and the smell of burning flesh would always haunt his dreams. He had done what he had to to defend his people and hoped that he would never have to do it again.

The corners of Caius's mouth turned up, a brief acknowledgement to the fact that he'd successfully called Teagan's bluff.

"Because of what you've done in the past and continue to do for your king and people, I am the one person who will always do anything to keep you safe."

Caius stepped back, finally giving Teagan space to breathe, and made a sweeping gesture Teagan recognised as a sign used by Caius's people.

He had no idea what it meant.

"I, of course, will not speak of what I know to anyone but yourself and the king. I will leave if you still wish me to do so, but I beg you to at least let me see you settled into bed. You look as though you haven't slept in weeks."

"You're not exactly well-rested yourself," he countered.

"At least I'm not at the point where I forget that ordinary people don't open the front door before dawn in the middle of winter wearing clothes like that."

Teagan felt his cheeks flush. " _Get out!_ "

Caius sighed. "Here I am, trying to be helpful. Perhaps I should inform Auric that you've been neglecting your health."

"You said you'd leave!"

"And I will, but I do wish you'd reconsider."

Those puppy-dog eyes were a lethal weapon. Assassins, in Teagan's humble opinion, shouldn't be allowed to use those.

"Get the fuck out already!" he growled.

"You really should move into a warmer house, you know. Just because you don't feel the cold doesn't mean it--oh, my."

Teagan had let his eyes change. They would now be orange with golden light shimmering through them.

Caius stared, eyes wide and--

Teagan blinked in surprise as he read Caius's expression. Transfixed. Spellbound.

Teagan didn't know what to do with that, but Caius was leaving at least, brushing past him on his way to the front door. Teagan followed.

"Your coat?" he prompted when Caius almost walked out without it, which was amusing considering how much he had complained about the cold.

It wasn't until Teagan went to unbutton his shirt so he could shower and dress properly for the day that he realised he had done up the buttons wrong and Caius, the bastard, hadn't said a word about it.


End file.
